In the Garden of the Wolf
by phoenixreal
Summary: AU: Sci Fi. Cayote Starrk and the Arrancar do their best to keep their home of the Dangai moon Hueco Mundo a place without crime. Sometimes, though, Slavers look for neutral ground to make their sales in secret. Starrk and his people bust a ring and find themselves with a group of slaves that need their help. M/M, BDSM, Explicit
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

The Wolf's World

The Earth died. Humans try to frame it another way, that the world was just left behind, that people just moved out into the stars, but that's not the truth. The Earth's resources were depleted, and no one could live on that cold, barren expanse any more. So, humans left. To the stars they went, and the colonized worlds in a neighboring galaxy. Two generations passed while in transit, a total of 200 years, but once they arrived, humans found a new home.

Humans thought they were the center of the universe before leaving earth, and once they got to the rest of the galaxy, they knew they were. No life was found on any world other than local flora and fauna. There were new animals and plants to see, new suns to explore, but all in all, humans were found to be completely, and utterly, alone in the universe.

With advanced technology, many worlds were terraformed and brand new civilizations were created. A near Earth-like planet was found and quickly colonized in a solar system named Prime One. Earth Prime became a home for the most elite and well off humans. Earth 2 and Earth 3 were colonized as nearby planets in the Earth Prime solar system. These two would become dens of inequity where the poor and the dregs of society would take residence. The solar system they had found was a binary system, and the best worlds were those that circled the sun called Sol One. The second sun in the system, Sol Two, was circled by gaseous planetoids. Earth Prime, One, and Two were similar to Earth and in close proximity to each other. Earth Prime stood as an "ideal" location, with Earth Two being warmer due to being closer to Sol One, and Earth Three being frigid being further from Sol One.

Primers (the name for those that hail from Earth Prime) were the scientists and elite of society. Primers found that Earth Two was an excellent source of minerals and the tropical climate on the world made it ideal as a farming planet. Earth Three, with it's near freezing temperatures, had sources of minerals and fuels the likes of which Primers had never seen. E2 and E3 quickly became nothing more than labor planets, answering to the elite that lived on Prime. The lives of those on E2 and E3 were little better than Old Earth's third world countries, with much of the planets overrun by slavers, criminal enterprises, and black market traders. Earth Prime, however, was a bastion of peace and cleanliness, all built on the backs of E2 and E3. After four hundred years, the differences between the humans on each of the planets started to become apparent. On Earth Prime, as well, scientists began experimentation with DNA and genetics to create strains of humans more able to survive on harsh climates of E2, E3, and the prospective and even colder Earth Four. Their experiments were often failures.

Some others left to try and find an alternative to the Earth Prime's jurisdiction. Heading to the area around Sol Two, they decided to colonize the moons around a gas giant named Dangai. Some of the moons needed to be terraformed, a process that could take up to a hundred years. A group of humans colonized one of the moons named Seireitei. These humans, after a few generations began calling themselves shinigami. They carved out a city, and walled it to keep the wild world around them outside. They then began the process of terraforming the other moons around Dangai. Out of the planet's thirty-six moons, twenty-eight could be terraformed and four were semi-livable. Once they had settled, nearby moon served as a place where unscrupulous scientists abandoned their failed experiments with humans and animal DNA. This other planet, while not terraformed, was another harsh environment that it would be possible to survive in with help from technology. No one expected these humanoids to survive simply being abandoned with minimal supplies. To their surprise, the altered humans, Arrancar as they came to call themselves, thrived in the desert wasteland of Hueco Mundo.

Despite the high ideals that the humans of Earth Prime set forth, things like slavery and the trafficking of humans for labor, sex, gladiatorial matches, and experimentation became big business, and a group of Primers that called themselves the Bounts became the source for most of it. Claiming a small moon of Dangai, the Bounts called their world Slavers' Moon, and proceeded to become the source for slaves that worked Earth Two and Earth Three, as well as provided entertainment to Primers and the downtrodden civilians of the worlds alike.

On the moon of Hueco Mundo, it was a constant battle to keep such things away.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

"Again?" Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez growled with his blue eyes flashing. "Didn't we just bust a fuckin' ring of slavers last month?"

Coyote Starrk, the Primera Espada of Las Noches, and by default, the leader of Hueco Mundo, looked over the report Tier Hallibel had brought to the meeting of the Espada, or the ten Arrancar that ruled over the desert world, and the city built into the cliff known as Las Noches. He sighed and glanced at the others. Word had come down that the one of the casinos that Tier ran was being used as a slave auction. The people that had rented the room had failed to mention the reason they were renting it. It quite obviously was not for a "conference" as had been listed on their application. Because of the entertainments offered by Hueco Mundo, off-worlders were frequent visitors to their casinos and other venues. Sometimes, this made them an ideal meeting place for slavers and their clients. Neutral ground was highly sought after in their business.

Starrk sighed as he looked over the reports. "Why must they decide to bring their wares here?"

Nnoitra snorted. "Well, you remember that last group we busted? They said something about being told that we had the most depraved world in the galaxy and that being sold her was worse than death. Which considering that we outlawed slavery and have open trade between people is so far from true."

"Someone here is willing to buy slaves for them to keep bringing them." Ulquiorra was normally quiet but he looked around at his fellows. "We arrested three last time, but in the end most of them got away that were looking to purchase the slaves. Unless of course we have more from other worlds, but I have not seen any reports of large numbers landing lately."

"Perhaps undercover would be best?" Barragan, the oldest of the Espada asked from his position as the second of them. "Send in a few of our people to get identification on them."

"Could work," Grimmjow scratched at his ear. "We should do that. When is the sale?"

"Tonight." Tier said as she looked around.

Grimmjow stood up. "Alright, I'll take my boys, and Barragan's crew."

"I shall go myself," Starrk commented as he stood up as well, gaining everyone's attention.

No one spoke. If Starrk himself was going, he was serious. There was a reason that he was Primera. He was the strongest, and his powers were greater than all of them together. Those that lived here, at least those of them that were Arrancar, all were possessed of abilities related to their DNA. There was also an effect of the very moon itself that gave those that were born upon in what seemed to be supernatural abilities. Of course, most of the Arrancar had been on this moon for seven generations or more, and Arrancar aged slowly compared to Primers and other humans. Szayelaporro Ganz, one of the Espada, had spent his entire life trying to unravel the sources of their abilities. After all that time, though, he had no real answers. It did not matter. It was as it was, and they would try to do what they could to help others born with the genetic alterations like they had been given.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Fear was a staple in their lives since being rounded up by these Bounts. Some of them had fought, of course. None of them had come through unscathed, even those that hadn't fought. Of course, if they had fought, they were punished for it repeatedly. It felt as though they'd been in the cages forever, but it had been more than a year since the raid on the Dangai moon called Karakura.

Karakura had only been terraformed and settled in the last fifty years. Citizens that colonized the pleasant climate of the moon were from other worlds, including the crime ridden Earth 2 and 3. The moon was terraformed by the neighboring world of Seireitei as a less hostile world for refugees from the Earth planets to inhabit. The problem was that other moons around Dangai were inhabited by slavers and criminals that had fled from the Earth planets as well. One moon, Slavers' Moon, was a well-known home to the group of slavers called the Bounts. They were a relatively small group, but they were extremely well funded by an unknown source and had an impenetrable stronghold. Now and then, they would raid Karakura since it was the most vulnerable of the moons, or other moons with settlers that were unguarded. Then, they would take their captives and train them on Slavers' Moon for their position, and then return to Earth Prime, Earth 2 or Earth 3, and sell their slaves. People would also buy slaves on the moons of Dangai, even if it was prohibited.

Ichigo Kurosaki was among the group that had been captured during a raid on Karakura. He, along with a number of other Karakura residents and a fair number of the Shinigami that were helping with securing the largest settlement for just such problems. Despite the Shinigami's presence, the Bounts had surprise on their side, as well as weapons that the Shinigami had never encountered. Once captured, they had been thrown in cages to be transported back to Slaver's Moon for training as slaves. More than a year with their captors had shown all those present that there was little point to having hope any longer. Each slave was assigned to a group that fit their "talents" best, according to their captors. Slaves were sold for labor, pleasure, and as gladiators. Any that became injured or sick would be shipped to Earth Prime for "experimentation." They were separated and spent a year learning their "trade" properly. The Bounts were adamant that their slaves performed at the highest level.

Ichigo now sat with his arm around Orihime as she sobbed again. This was a near daily occurrence since they were caged up on the ship to go to the other moon of Hueco Mundo. He did his best to protect them from their captors. Unfortunately, that meant he ended up being the one they drug out for their fun. He supposed it was better than one of the girls. It didn't always work, sometimes they took one of them anyway, but he found if he antagonized them enough, they'd grab him. They didn't care who it was, male or female. If they could hurt them, that was all that mattered. They often called their torture "training" and laughed that they should get used to such things.

"Please, Orihime, I know what they said, but we don't know for sure, right?" He hugged her and tried to ignore the rattle of the heavy chain that weighed down their necks.

"They said this was the worst place in the galaxy!" she sobbed.

Rangiku came around and knelt before her. "Honey, don't sob so, they'll hear you. Just have some hope."

"We may get a chance to run," Rukia reminded her as she approached. "We have to try. Whatever happens, we'll try to get away."

Finally, Orihime calmed and Ichigo stood up, walking to the bars in the front of the cage. The ship had landed and now they could only wait. He glanced back at them. He was one of three males in this group. He, a Shinigami with long brown hair named Rose, and a very quiet blond Shinigami named Kira were in this group. Then, he supposed male wasn't exactly accurate in their case; there wasn't a name for them yet, but they were new and no one was sure what to make of their genetic variation. They had all agreed that at least they hadn't been shipped off for examination by Primer scientists. Rukia, Rangiku, Chizuru, Orihime, and Lisa were locked in here with them. There was a bang as the upper door opened and Ichigo stepped back.

Mabashi came down with a basket in his arms. He smiled at them through the bars. "Time to get ready to be sold to the most depraved masters in the universe. You think we're bad, just wait."

Mabashi's hair was nearly as orange colored as Ichigo's so he glared at him through the bars. Considering the fact that Mabashi insulted Ichigo's hair all the time, it was annoying to look at him with his trimmed hair. Ichigo, and the others in here, weren't allowed to cut their hair. That was for their masters to decide. Mabashi unlocked the main door and began handing them each a set of clothes. Ichigo held it up and looked at him. "You can't be serious."

"You're all a bunch of whores. You get to dress like it. Either that or I'll beat you unconscious and put you up there naked."

Mabashi laughed and left them to change into what amounted to a loin cloth for them all, and a small sleeveless chest covering for the females of the group. It wasn't actually much different than what they already had on, just cleaner. Though at least they had sleeveless shirts before instead of being nearly bare chested. He saw that Rangiku was struggling a bit with her top. It didn't cover her breasts completely. He moved over and tried to get it to cover her nipples at least. He grumbled as he fiddled with it. One of the things none of them were bothered by any longer was nudity or touching each other. It had to be that way or they would have all lost their minds by now. Finally, they managed it but she couldn't move much or it would pop right off.

"I wish I had Rukia's boobs right now." She looked at Ichigo with a lopsided grin. "But I guess it is better than naked."

"Not much," Ichigo muttered. "I hope Shiro's okay."

"They won't let him out of the box until they sell him," Rukia said as she came up beside them, reaching up and shifting the metal collar.

Ichigo sighed. "Yeah, he'll kill the first person he gets his hands on once they let him out."

Ichigo knew his brother. Twin, actually. Well, sort of. They had been born of the same mother at the same time, but Shiro was something else that no one had been able to explain. When they had been young, Ichigo's parents had attempted to have his DNA analyzed, only to find out that it was as though he wasn't human at all, despite having a roughly similar appearance to Ichigo. He was also extremely violent and Ichigo knew what to expect of him. Shiro would try to disembowel anyone that was between him and Ichigo. That was why he was in a box. No one could control him, well, unless they had Ichigo. Then he'd listen. At least a little bit.

It didn't take long for Jin Kariya, the captain of the ship they were own and leader of the Bounts, to come down and chain their collars together, then bind their wrists with shackles. They were led up the ramp and out into the ship. He glanced over and saw the first group, the labor slaves, and sighed. It looked like everyone was still alive. He saw Hachi's pink hair, Uryū still had his glasses, his friend Chad who towered over the rest, the bright red-haired Renji who was Rukia's brother-in-law, and his friend Keigo. Those that he knew best were staring at him and the rest as they were led toward the bright light as the hatch opened on the ship. It had been months since they'd seen a sun, and this place was incredibly bright. Slaver's Moon was in perpetual darkness and covered with storms.

Ichigo saw the tall box that he knew contained his brother wheeled out on a cart. He caught a flash of white in the tiny window as he was pulled past them to the other side. He called him his twin, but it was really only because they were born of the same womb. Shiro wasn't actually human, and so far, no one was sure how he came to exist. Ichigo watched as the other gladiator slaves were chained together and led after the boxed Shiro. Kensei, Shūhei, and Hiyori were all dressed in linen pants and shirts with bright silver plates over their chests to show their position as fighting slaves. The labor slave group was led past them, like the fighting slaves, they wore linen pants, but had sleeveless linen shirts. Like the rest, they were shackled together.

Once they had been lined up, Jin stood up on a floating disk that lifted him a couple feet off the ground. Ichigo glanced around and saw there were so many people in the place. His heart began to beat hard in his ears. This was it, this was where they all met their fate. He heard Orihime crying again and silently willed her to stop. They'd beat her if she didn't, and he couldn't step between them here.

"Welcome, welcome! We have a lovely selection for you today, the finest in gladiators, including one so vicious we have to keep him in a box! A group of good, strong laborers that will till your fields, work in your kitchens, or man the smithy! And of course, our pride and joy, our lovely pleasure slaves, trained to answer your every desire no matter what it may be. Who can resist the charms of this lovely group? We've got boys and girls for your enjoyment, so now, I'll step down and let you all inspect the merchandise before we begin the bidding in fifteen minutes!" Jin floated down and stepped away as the men and women in the audience began to approach them.

Ichigo was startled when a girl…no, boy? Yeah, he thought as he saw a boy in a pink and white maid's outfit staring up at him. He had a collar on with silver spikes all around it. Mabashi appeared beside him then and turned him around. "Hey, you, where's your master?" he asked him.

The short boy in the dress looked at him, confused and just walked away. Mabashi shook his head. "Fuckin' slave owners should watch their property better, letting him walk around freely…" he muttered as he moved away again.

Ichigo heard thumps now and then from Shiro's box and hoped he didn't hurt himself. Several men came up and twisted his head up to look at him in the face. He tried not to move, knowing better by now. After the fifteen minutes was up, Jin started taking bids on everyone, starting with the laborers. Ichigo noticed that most of the laborers were bought by a man with long black hair and a calm demeaner. Then it was the gladiator slaves. All four were bought by a guy with half red and half black colored hair. Ichigo saw him talking to Mabashi as soon as he won the bid.

Then it was their group. He waited as Rukia and Chizuru were sold to a man with long blond hair. Rangiku was sold to a short man with black hair and a tiger print scarf. Orihime's buyer was a short man with dark hair and sleeves that covered his hands. A man with blond hair and leer purchased Rose. Lisa went to a man with red tattoos and dark hair. He heard his own bidding go over and he looked to see he'd been bought by the man who bought the gladiators. His heart clenched in his chest. That was good, right? He was going to be Shiro. Mabashi must have warned him that Shiro was easier to control if Ichigo was there. Kira was bought by a heavy looking man with cropped dark hair.

All the sales made, they were unhooked from each other and taken to their respective buyers. Ichigo was led to where the gladiators were waiting with the man with red and black hair. He couldn't help but tremble as his chains were handed to him. He glanced at the box and saw Shiro's eyes through the window.

"My name is Edrad Liones," the man said to him as he looked up at him. "Please, do not be afraid." Ichigo tried to speak up as he moved to unlock Shiro's box. Before he could, he heard a new voice.

"Slave trading in my city is not permitted," boomed a voice that made Ichigo turn and stare.

From the doorway, a man walked in with a severe look on his face. He had wavy brown hair that sat at his shoulders and an eye-patch over his left eye. In his hands were a pair of pistols. He looked around, and Ichigo watched as the boy in the maid's dress was leading Orihime quickly toward the exit behind him with the guy with the sleeves over his hand. He noticed that there were several of the other buyers and slaves quickly heading for the door. The world descended into utter chaos.

Nearby, Jin turned to Mabashi. "Get as many as you can back to the ship, I'm not losing everything on this rock," he muttered and took off toward where Ichigo and the others were standing.

Mabashi went toward the doorway just as Orihime and her buyer were about to exit. He snatched her by the arm and she screamed. The short, dark haired guy that bought her turned and so did the boy in the maid's dress with the collar. The boy stepped forward and glared at him.

"You, call back your fucking slave bitch," Mabashi said, dropping Orihime's arm in surprise.

The man smirked. "You are mistaken. Wonderweiss isn't a slave. He just likes wearing that collar. I'd retreat, he doesn't get angry often. So…how fast are you anyway?"

"What the fuck do you mean?" Mabashi asked as Wonderweiss smiled at him in a way that chilled him.

"So you can run?" the dark haired man smirked. He stepped forward and pulled Orihime backward and well behind Wonderweiss as he pulled out a long, thin stick of some sort. He pressed a button on the side of it and Mabashi's world began to recoil and he was immediately on the ground, retching. Wonderweiss leaned over him. "Ha. You're gonna burn."

Orihime just watched as the dress wearing boy began dancing around strangely, and the dark-haired man that was standing beside her did the same. She looked over and saw that all the guard were restrained, and then realized that they were going to open Shiro's box. She gasped, as the door popped open and a blur of white was all she saw fly out and tackle the man that opened the crate.

Ichigo dashed forward as Shiro was out and choking the man with the red and black hair, eyes blazing. He put both hands on his shoulders.

"Shiro, stop!" he begged. Shiro's black and gold eyes turned up to him and he smiled. He let go of the man he was trying to kill and threw both arms around Ichigo's neck.

"Ichi, baby, there you are," Shiro gasped out. Ichigo returned the hug and they stood there for a minute before Shiro let go of him, seeing the clear path to the door behind him. He whispered in his ear. "I'm going, baby, I'll be back for ya, when I got a safe spot…"

"Wait, no, don't!" Ichigo stammered as Shiro shot around him and made his way to the door and out of it. He knew he was going to run. He wouldn't trust anyone, and right now, Ichigo didn't know what to think about these people.

Starrk had taken off after Jin, who had taken off for his ship. Of course, the ship would already be secured by Grimmjow. The others would handle the few guards that were out in the main area. He found him in the cockpit, frustrated by the controls not working.

"No one sells slaves here. Not even the infamous Bounts of Slavers' Moon," Starrk informed him.

Jin turned around and growled. "No good," he muttered and slapped his chest. Starrk reach forward to grab him but he dissipated. Emergency long range teleport.

Starrk sighed and figured he had more important things to worry on, and that was the crop of slaves that had been dropped in his lap. He came out and saw the sight of the very confused slaves and his Arrancar. The Arrancar were having a little fun with some of the slavers. He was glad at least Jin had been the only one with an emergency transporter. Grimmjow walked up beside him.

"We have eight 'pleasure' slaves, five laborers, and four gladitorial slaves. Well, three. The one in the box got away from us once Edrad released him," Grimmjow informed him.

"Any idea how long they were on Slavers' Moon?" Starrk asked as they were grouped together. He saw that the scantily clad slavers were clinging to each other as they got close to each other. That action didn't bode well for their condition.

Grimmjow sighed. "I asked one of the laborers, and he said he thought it had been around a year or more, they aren't sure how long exactly. Slavers' Moon doesn't have a view of Sol Two. They were separated by group, so they have no idea about the other two groups and what happened to them. We've never had any rescued pleasure slaves here. We've got no data on them. They're usually trafficked on Earth 2 and Earth Prime."

Starrk nodded and thought for a minute. "Nelliel might be able to help. Send for her. For now, let's take them all to my castle. Put them together in the biggest guest hall. I'll speak to them myself."

"I'll set out to look for that one that ran. He was fucking demonic from what Edrad said, but the slave there, the one with the bright orange hair, pulled him off of him. Some relation between them. Edrad said they look alike a bit, too." Grimmjow nodded and took off out of the casino, running a hand through his blue hair as he went.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

"What's happening?" Orihime asked as she clutched Ichigo's hand. Rukia clutched her other hand.

"I don't know. It seems like they don't like slaves here," Rukia said as she sat down on the cot behind them. Orihime and Ichigo sat down beside her.

The slaves had all been brought to a huge castle in the cliffside. As they walked through the footpaths, they saw that there weren't any motorized vehicles. There were horses and other four legged creatures that pulled along two wheeled carts over the uneven ground. The whole place appeared to be built into the very cliffs of this world. There were multiple levels to the buildings, and they generally went upward. The castle was at the very top of the cliff, and was huge. They had been led into a large, open room that had about twelve cots set up in it.

Ichigo had looked over to his old friends, the ones that had been set in the labor group, and wondered if they would have anything to do with him now. He didn't know how to act around them anymore. He only knew what he was now. They seemed as hesitant as they were to separate out of their groups. Ichigo realized that none of them would even look at him for more than a second. It was a bit painful, honestly. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but he hadn't expected to be dismissed by the people he once called friends just because of how he'd been trained.

It seemed like hours passed before the door opened and the man with the booming voice from before came in with several others behind him. Ichigo felt Orihime's hand clench his.

"I am Primera Espada Cayote Starrk. I am the leader of Hueco Mundo. This is my Segundo, Barragan, and my Tercera Harribel." He gestured toward the door where a flamboyantly dressed man with long pink hair stood. "Szayel is our medical scientist and my Octavo Espada. I know that you are all unsure of what has happened, so I will try to explain. We absolutely prohibit slavery on our moon. We captured some of your captors, but the leader, Jin Kariya managed to escape with a long range teleportation device. I would ask that you allow our medical scientist to look you all over, and we will see about returning you to your homes as soon as possible. I understand many of you were taken from Karakura," Starrk spoke with such presence that it was no wonder he led their people.

"We, some of us, are actually from Seireitei," Rukia said as she stood up. She looked over where Renji leaned against the wall. "My brother is one of the Captains in their leadership. We were on Karakura to help with the raids they were experiencing. We weren't expecting a slaver raid."

Starrk nodded. "Very well, would you come with me and you can contact your brother."

Rukia let go of Orihime's hand and smiled at her. "I'll be fine," she said as she followed Starrk out of the ornate double doors.

Szayel came closer to the group Ichigo was in and felt his heart beat faster. The question was, would he know about them? He glanced at Rose and Kira who wore a similar expression of concern. They were from Seireitei, though, so they were Shinigami. Even if this pink-haired guy wanted to, he couldn't keep them. Ichigo, however, had no such protection. He had been born on Karakura to parents from Earth Two. Szayel had some sort of hand held scanner that he was checking Lisa with. Ichigo's grip tightened on Orihime's hand, for the first time reverse of their usual position. The pink haired man scanned Orihime and then stepped in front of Ichigo. Ichigo tried not to look at him as the scanner hummed. He stood still and looked at it for a long time after it stopped humming.

"What is this?" he muttered to himself. Ichigo stared at the floor between his knees. He bit his lip as he moved away and scanned Rose and Kira. "You three," he said finally. "You have the same genetic malformation and alteration to your DNA sequences. Is this artificial?"

Kira spoke, which was a rarity. "We were all born with the anomaly. They are becoming more frequent in the last generation. There is not yet a name for it."

Starrk had returned and walked over where Szayel was absorbed in the readings on his scanner.

"Szayel, is there a problem?" he asked with concern.

As he turned the scanner around, he looked up. "They're not male or female. These three. They appear male, but they aren't completely. They're new. Between male and female, and they have a mutation that allows them to carry young; they literally have a secondary set of reproductive organs. But they lack secondary sex characteristics of enlarged mammary glands. The genotype has altered drastically, and the phenotypes are starting to come in line with them. It explains the somewhat androgynous nature."

Starrk stared at the readings. "Have we seen this in our people yet? If I understand this, this is an evolution. Perhaps because of exposure to Sol One and Two?"

"I haven't seen anyone…well, I haven't been looking for it. We tend to be a highly sexual species, but we've yet to have children born with this characteristic," Szayel's normally over the top flamboyance was completely absent. "To evolve into a completely gender blended species…this could very well be a new direction for humans, like the Arrancar when we deviated."

"We deviated by matter of force and environment," Starrk observed. "It was far from a natural evolution."

Szayel shook his head. "Evolution nonetheless. Ever since Old Earth was abandoned, each settlement has been evolving in different ways. A move toward a more efficient system of reproduction might be the way this particular sub-set of humans is going. Fascinating idea, really. Instead of have two sexes, each individual carries both sexes and thus doubles the chances of surviving. But this isn't like the idea of true hermaphrodites we see in some animal species. This is different, like a third reproductive genotype."

Starrk looked at the three and then to Szayel. "Is that why they put these three with the pleasure slaves? Because of this?"

"They might have known, or it could be coincidence since they all exhibit more androgynous features…" Szayel said. "I'll scan the rest."

Starrk watched him go and realized that the training this group endured must have been extremely traumatic. None of them looked up unless they were speaking directly to someone. They were all cowed and defeated. In contrast, the labor and gladiator groups were respectful of them, but they did not spend their time staring at the ground. Starrk heard one of the girls sniff and he reached toward her. To his surprise, the one beside her with the bright hair reached out and grabbed his hand. Starrk turned and looked at him, and saw his eyes were bright and shining.

"You would put yourself between the leader of this world and another?" Starrk asked him.

"Leave her alone," he said in a rough voice.

Smiling, Starrk put his other hand over the one that had grabbed his. "You are their defender, protector, yes?"

"Ichigo, don't," the girl said, pulling Ichigo's hand away from Starrk's. "Please. You've done enough. You always do enough, coming between us and the others who want to hurt us. It is time for you to stop putting yourself in harm's way."

"Ichigo. A fitting name," Starrk said, standing up and walking away from them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

The Brother's Secret

The mission was simple. Stop the humans. That was all he was supposed to do. That was it. He wasn't supposed to do anything else. He was just supposed to stop them however he could.

Humans believed Dangai to be uninhabited, as well as all the surrounding moons. The problem was, Dangai, and its moons, were very much inhabited. The problem was that humans were unable to perceive the resident species. The species, who had no real name for themselves, found themselves in a rather unpleasant predicament. The humans were a minor nuisance when they surrounded the star they called Sol One. Then, they moved to Dangai's moons. This alone would have been tolerable, after all, the human corporeal nature made interacting with the Danae (a name they decided on after their planet was named Dangai) impossible. The species itself thrived on the gas giant the humans had named Dangai, under their influence. The name itself was what the natives of the planet called it, and the human that named it had been whispered the name by one of their kind.

Then, the humans started syphoning power from Dangai's constant storms. To do this, they launched a generator that floated in the atmosphere. The closest moon became an unmanned outpost, and the funnel of energy flowed from their planet into quaint little containers that belonged to the humans. On an even interval, a ship would come, and gather full containers of the energy. The problem with the situation was that the energy they were using wasn't energy, it was the Danae themselves. Millions of their species were being sucked away and they had no way to even tell these humans what was happening.

He had been sent to find a way to stop them, by any means necessary. To do this, the Danae decided to use a human vessel to copy and create a corporeal form that could interact with the humans. The body of a pregnant female was chosen on the moon the humans called Karakura. Once inside the body of the human host, he'd used his innate energy to copy the developing fetus. The problem was, with no understanding of humans, the Danae's emissary became trapped in a corporeal form with only echoes of his memories. The body developed, and with it, the mind, but the incorporeal form of the Danae that resided in the body was hidden, and his mission forgotten.

Now, he was hiding in this new city he had found himself in, and his mind was only focused on the only thing that mattered: Ichigo. Shiro knew he wasn't like him, and he knew that he was something else entirely, but he could not put his finger on what he was. He was aware now that he _should_ have known what he was. It didn't help, though. Instead, he focused on getting his Ichigo back. That was really how he saw him, as his and anyone that tried to take him was to be destroyed.

Shiro had sat long enough, so he took a breath and started to dart out of the alleyway he was hiding in. His head exploded in white as something slammed right into him. He staggered back to see a big guy with blue hair. Shiro dropped to a crouch and glared at him.

"Move," Shiro growled.

"Look, come quietly, I'll take you to your brother or whatever the fuck he is. What the fuck are you anyway?" the blue haired interloped asked, standing there, looking at ease despite the odd situation. "I'm Grimmjow, one of the leaders around here. So, come on."

"I don't trust you," Shiro growled at him again.

Grimmjow sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Do you want to see him or not?"

Shiro was now at an impasse. He wanted to rip this guy's throat out, and he was sure he could; he didn't seem fast enough to avoid him. If they had moved Ichigo, though, he had no way to find him again. He didn't trust him, though. So instead he smirked at the tall, blue haired Arrancar and spoke again. "Catch me, blue baby."

With that, he moved like a coiled spring and leaped up, using the building as a springboard to push himself to land behind Grimmjow. Grimmjow moved to follow him, but immediately realized that this creature, for he was in no way human now that he saw him move, was faster than anyone except Starrk. Scarily, he might have been faster than the Primera. He took off, though, following his scent rather than trusting his eyes. His scent was sweet and like nothing Grimmjow had ever smelled.

Shiro had never been so close to panic in his life. He doubted what Grimmjow said, but what if he couldn't find him in this place? He quickly realized he was never going to navigate this like he usually could. There was no higher ground to get a vantage from the way it was built going upward. He stopped short in several allies, sure that he had been going toward the big building only to find himself backwards completely. Finally, he decided to cut through a building. He skidded to a stop in a kitchen with a very shocked looking Arrancar in the middle of cooking. He stared for a minute then wasn't sure what to do.

The Arrancar, a female by appearance with curly purple hair stared back. "What are you doing in my house? Do you need help?" she asked, setting the pan on the stove.

Shiro shook his head and sprinted toward the back door and was out in an open alley. He took a ramp that seemed to be going up, but found himself skidding to a stop in some kind of bedroom. There were two girls in the bed, it seemed in the middle of something. One was blond, the other had black hair. He didn't look much beyond that as he turned from them. He heard one of them yell at him, asking if he needed help and he shook it off and dashed to the open window. He dropped down, nearly landing on what looked like an oversized dog. He stared for a minute because it was taller than he was but it was definitely canine. It was the size of a horse, though. He stumbled backward and almost into an Arrancar. He felt hands on him, and he turned to see someone with dark hair asking if he was okay. He turned to go down the street the other way but a flimsy, flickering appearing figure appeared right in front of him saying something about not running anymore.

What the hell? He thought as he sprinted away and up a wall. He felt eyes on him, as apparently, he was in a populated area now and people were muttering as they saw him dash past them. He was actually starting to panic because he couldn't figure out how to get out of this place. He gasped as someone put hands on him again and he saw it was the blue haired guy again.

"Hey, come on now, calm down," he said in a quiet voice. Shiro couldn't, not really. He shook him off and tried to back away only to be faced with another figure, this one at least a foot taller than himself with black hair and a bandana over one eye. He was penned in. His eyes went upward and he didn't have enough clearance to leap again, and he wasn't sure he had the energy.

"I need him," he gasped out finally, looking between the other two as he backed into the wall. He flattened against it, his palms contacting the cool stone. It felt good against his heated skin. "I need him…I can't…I can't…"

Grimmjow moved to pin him then and Shiro flinched looking up as he put his hands on his shoulders. "Come on, I told you. I'll take you to him, okay? He's safe, and so are you. No one here will hurt you."

Shiro couldn't run anymore, he was tired. He nodded to this Grimmjow, but he felt his knees give out. He felt him catch him under the arms as the world began to waver in his vision. "I got you, okay?" he heard as his mind began to shut down.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Szayel stared at the figure on his table, currently unconscious. Grimmjow stood to the side. "I have no idea what he is," he muttered and looked at Grimmjow as Starrk came into the med bay. "He's not human, though it appears that his body is based off human structure."

"Is he a genetic mutation like some of the others? An experiment?" Starrk asked.

Szayel looked at him. "You aren't understanding me. This…this creature isn't human at all. It…it is almost like a bad copy of a human." Szayel read the confusing in the others. "Okay, the DNA sequences, on the surface, look human. And a cursory glance would make you think they are human. But once you look deeper, they're…blank. Like someone brewed a mock up human body."

"His appearance is close to the orange haired sex slave. One of the laborers called him his twin brother," Starrk said slowly. "But if what you're saying is that he's not human…"

Grimmjow looked at Starrk. "Maybe we're not as alone as we thought."

Shiro groaned then, getting them all to look at him. "Ow…" he muttered.

Starrk started to move, but to his amusement found Grimmjow moved up by his head as Shiro's eyes opened. "Hey, you."

Shiro locked his oddly colored eyes on the blue ones. "Whaddaya want?" he grumbled as he sat up and rubbed his head.

Szayel moved around. "How are you feeling?"

"The fuck are you supposed to be, glamour boy?" Shiro looked at him with narrowed eyes.

With a snort, Szayel smiled at him. "I'm the doctor and scientist here, and you're in the castle. You've been out a few hours. I wasn't sure what to do with you."

"Not much to do but wait it out," Shiro sighed and swung his legs off the bed, glaring at Grimmjow. "How the fuck did you track me?"

"Well, for one thing, I live here, so I know how to get around, but the other is that you have a very unique scent I can follow," Grimmjow said, arching a brow.

"Figures," Shiro said as he looked at Starrk. "You were the one that busted in the sale."

Starrk nodded, bowing his head a bit. "Yes, Cayote Starrk. I'm the Primera Espada of Hueco Mundo, and this city is Las Noches. I have your companion, the one with the orange hair-"

"Where is he?" Shiro interrupted and was in front of Starrk a second later, surprising everyone that he appeared to flash from one place to another.

Shiro flinched as he felt hands on his arms again. "Hold on, sweetheart," Grimmjow muttered. "We'll get you there. First, can you give any explanation to the fact you aren't human?"

"Ah, what?" Shiro said, looking over his shoulder at Grimmjow.

Szayel walked around and looked at him for a long time. "You don't know that you aren't human, do you?"

"I was born with Ichigo, I'm…I'm…what…how am I not human?" he asked, starting to feel something tickle at the back of his brain.

 _Stop them at all costs. We're dying._

Shiro shook his head. "That doesn't make any sense."

Szayel glanced at Grimmjow and Starrk before he looked at Shiro again. "Your DNA is a bad copy of his. Shiro is what they call you?"

"Shiro, white," he muttered and shook his head. "I'm different, but that doesn't mean I'm not human, wait, a bad copy? I don't understand."

"Don't worry about it now, we'll run some tests, for now go to your companion," Szayel said as he turned back to the tests he was running.

Starrk nodded to Grimmjow and let him lead Shiro out the door behind him.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Rukia leaned against Ichigo and glanced over where Renji and the others were huddled.

"Why hasn't he come talked to us? We've been in here free to do what we want for a couple hours already, and they haven't moved," Rukia said with frustration.

Ichigo glanced over, a similar thought having run through his mind. "Maybe they're disgusted with us," he said quietly. "I mean, they did turn us into whores."

Ichigo looked over to see Rangiku and Kira were huddled together. Before they were kidnapped, they had both been in a triad relationship with another Shinigami that was one of the captains, but Ichigo couldn't remember the name. Since they'd been left on their own by these Arrancar, they'd been sitting together and holding each other. He saw that two of the gladiators, Kensei and Shūhei, had also paired off and were sitting knee to knee on the floor to the side. Hiyori, the female gladiator was pacing the room and didn't talk to anyone. Rose had sat down with Lisa and they sat with their hands intertwined for comfort. Chizuru and Orihime were likewise leaning against each other. Rukia and Ichigo had sat on their cot back to back as they waited. The laborers were just huddled together for some reason.

Rukia got up suddenly, almost making Ichigo fall backward as she stormed over to the redheaded Renji.

"What the hell is your problem, all of you?" she asked, glaring around at the laborer group. "You don't want anything to do with us anymore?" She gestured behind her where the eight of them had spread out in pairs or alone. Ichigo lowered his head, not wanting to hear an answer that confirmed his fear.

Renji stared at Rukia and stammered. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She looked over at the others and back at him. They all had the same completely ashamed look. None of them would meet her eyes.

"Are we not good enough for you now?" Rukia stated, her eyes locking on Renji's. "Are we nothing but common whores to you?"

Renji's eyes went wide. "No, Rukia, no, just…" He trailed off and looked away.

"Just what? What is the problem?"

"They used us." Uryū finally spoke. "They made us…do…things to you all. When they 'trained' you. They would have us…do it."

Rukia stared for a moment before she looked at all of them. "So fucking what?" she snapped.

They all looked at her, eyes wide and staring. "Rukia, I can't forgive myself for…"

Before Renji could move, she'd slapped him. He turned back at her and stared. "How dare you treat us differently. So what? So they made you fuck us. They made us do that and worse. Do you see me fucking ignoring Ichigo just because he had to fuck me for them to watch? Do you see me turning away from him, or Rose? Or Kira? Or because they made us girls fuck them with things? Do you fucking think it wasn't like that? Don't give me that bullshit excuse. We were all made do things." She turned on her heels and fell down onto the cot into Ichigo's arms. He put his arms around her and they sat like that in silence for a long time.

The silence was broken when the door opened.

"Ichi Baby!" he heard and stood just in time to get tackled over the cot and roll on the floor.

Ichigo gasped as he was being mauled by Shiro's kisses. He started to laugh as he buried his face in his neck. "Shiro! Let go, I can't breathe!"

Finally, Ichigo dislodged Shiro enough that they sat up. Shiro wouldn't let go, though, hanging on him like second skin. He sighed and put his arms around him. Considering they had been able to see each other only briefly over the last year, and hadn't touched since they were separated, Shiro wasn't going to let him go.

They had all been provided pants and a shirt by the Arrancar, but Shiro was still in his gladiator clothes. "Shiro, the metal…" Ichigo complained.

Shiro leaned back and pulled it off, clanging the metal off the floor as he threw it before throwing his arms around Ichigo again. "I missed you," he whined.

Ichigo sighed and ran his hands over Shiro's head. "I know, I know."

From the doorway, Starrk and Grimmjow watched with interest. "That's not the reaction of brothers," Starrk observed. "More like long lost lovers."

Grimmjow nodded. "I'm unsure what to make of the whole situation."

"Yo, boss," came a new voice from behind them. Both turned to see Nnoitra standing there with his hands in his pockets. "The Shinigami boss is on the com."

Starrk nodded and looked to Grimmjow. "Stay with them, and keep an eye on this Shiro. I'll talk to the Shinigami and find out what they wish us to do with their people."

Starrk walked the ramp that led to the upper level communication room. He nodded to Harribel who was on duty this morning.

"The leader of the Shinigami people is on the line for you, Cayote."

"Put him through here," Starrk said as he fell into the seat, adjusting his jacket as he did so. He should have worn something less heavy today with as much walking as he was doing. The Arrancar always wore a variety of styles, and Starrk tended to favor plain, loose clothing with layers. It helped since he had a habit of falling asleep in random locations. The screen showed a wizened old man with a white beard and bald head wearing a formal looking white overcoat. "Cayote Starrk," he answered.

"My people informed me that you have a group of my missing people as well as some from the Karakura Moon settlement. You indicated they had been held by the Bounts on Slavers' Moon. I am the head captain of the Gotei 13, Yamamoto. We are the ruling authority over the Seiretei and the moons we have terraformed like Karakura," the old man stated seriously. Starrk saw another man at his right shoulder.

"Yes, the Bounts were attempting to use one of our casinos' conference areas for sale of the slaves. We captured all by the leader, and we have all the people they were selling in our custody," he said, trying to avoid yawning. It had been a busy day, and he needed a nap.

The old man gave a curt nod. "What are the names of those that you have rescued and what have they endured?"

Starrk licked his lips. "Ah, yes, there were three groups being sold, laborer slaves, gladiator slaves, and pleasure slaves."

There was a pause. "Continue please."

Starrk leaned over the console and tapped into it to pull up the list. "Our records show that from your world, we have Rukia Kuchiki, Rangiku Matsumoto, Izuru Kira, Shūhei Hisagi, Rose Ōtoribashi, Kensei Muguruma, Lisa Yadōmaru, Hiyori Sarugaki, Renji Abarai, and Hachigen Ushōda. From Karakura Moon, Ichigo Kurosaki, Shiro Kurosaki, Chad Yasutora, Uryū Ishida, Chizuru Honshō, Orihime Inoue, and Keigo Asano."

In the background, Starrk heard the scribbling. "Very well, I will send out a ship with their loved ones. They will be very glad to have them back. It has nearly been a year and a half since the raid on Karakura Moon when they were taken. Do you have any idea how they were treated and if they have been any other places besides the Slavers' Moon?"

"From what I understand, they were being sold for the first time. I do know that the group has been divided since they were put together. There appears to be some sort of rift between the eight that were trained as pleasure slaves and those that were used as laborers and gladiators."

"Am I to assume the female victims were used as the pleasure slaves?" he asked.

Starrk arched a brow, clearing his throat. "Ah, not all. The short Shinigami, Hiyori, was among the gladiators, and the Shinigami Rose and Kira as well as the Karakura boy, Ichigo, were among the pleasure slaves. That actually brings me to a concern about those three."

Yamamoto nodded. "I recognize the names. They all have the genetic mutation that places them between male and female."

Starrk nodded. "And the one, Shiro."

Yamamoto stared at him for a moment. "You uncovered his non-human nature."

"We did. Do you know what he is?"

"We do not, our researcher has been continuing to unravel that mystery since before he was abducted. We were unsure that we were ever going to be able understand his biology. I will send my research scientist and head medical officer to your location as well. Please, if you could ensure that the Kurosaki twins remain in place."

"Twins is a misnomer, isn't it?" Starrk asked with a narrowed glance.

"The reference is only to the manner of their birth. Ichigo Kurosaki's father is well aware that Shiro is not actually his child in the same sense."

"And his mother?" he asked, curious.

"His mother is deceased. She was not officially aware of the nature of her non-human child, but it could be assumed that she was aware. She herself was a scientist. Her husband, however, has gone underground since his son was kidnapped. There is a concern that Masaki Kurosaki's death, and Ichigo's targeting might be connected," Yamamoto admitted.

"Wait, you believe that the Kurosaki boys were targeted _because_ of the non-human nature of the Shiro boy?" Starrk asked, a bit shocked.

"The only reason that we can come up with that their father and their twin sisters disappeared right after they were abducted. For this reason, it is imperative that those two stay safe. They may be the only link we have to life outside of human," Yamamoto warned. "This means, that if it becomes known that they are no longer under the slavers' control, you might be in danger."

"But it makes no sense to sell them to a random individual," Starrk stated. "If they are important…"

"There might have been a specific buyer in place for the pair, or if not a buyer, someone would have been in place to take them into possession from the buyer," Yamamoto replied.

"We allowed the sales to take place, and the two were purchased by one of our people. They overbid everyone else, but I will go over the records to see who had been trying to buy the two boys," he said as he shut down the communication link.

Harribel looked at him. "What have we gotten ourselves into?" she asked.

"I believe we have gotten ourselves into a lot of trouble," he sighed as he headed back down to the room where the slaves were housed.

He opened the door to find Grimmjow leaning against the wall beside Nnoitra and watching. Shiro and Ichigo were sitting, legs overlapped, with Shiro resting his head on Ichigo's chest. The short Shinigami with dark hair was standing with her back to the rest of the room and looked to be extremely angry.

"Please, I wanted to tell you all that the ship from the Seireitei will be arriving within the week. I anticipate that you will all be heading home at that point. I know that several of your families will be coming with them," Starrk said from his position at the door. He saw the hopeful look the one named Ichigo was giving him. It struck him that if his family had disappeared after he was abducted, no one would come for him. He sighed and walked toward where the two sat entwined. He knelt. "Would you come with me, the two of you?" he asked gently.

Shiro turned his eyes toward him and nodded as they both stood, Shiro clutching Ichigo's hand as they moved. Starrk nodded toward Grimmjow as he passed him. Grimmjow followed him silently as Starrk led the two toward his garden. He opened the door and let them both through, then followed.

Ichigo blinked in surprise. There were blue flowers everywhere in this room. Artificially lights ran over the high ceiling to give the proper light to the flowers.

"Wow," he muttered.

"They're hyacinths," Starrk said as he smiled at the two of them. Grimmjow was leaning against the door they entered. "I love flowers from Earth of Old. This one in particular. It represents true emotion, and the smell is easily my favorite."

After a few moments of examining the flowers with Shiro, they both turned to him. "Why did you want to see us alone?" Ichigo asked.

"When I contacted the Shinigami, I was informed that your father and sisters has been missing since your abduction. I didn't want you to expect them with the others," Starrk said with a sad look. "I thought that my garden might sooth the sting of such a thing."

Ichigo nodded. "It…it is just as well. I don't think they would see me as the same as before anyway."

Starrk moved and turned Ichigo toward him, meeting his eyes. "Ah, you put yourself down so, my lovely one. Do not do so."

Ichigo felt every bit of blood rush to his cheeks faced with this man. He stood taller than him, with his wavy brown hair framing his face. He felt his breath catch and for a second, all he could focus on was his eyes and his hands on his arms. Then he was pulled back by Shiro, breaking whatever spell he had been under.

"Yeah," Shiro said, glaring at Starrk.

Starrk smiled at Shiro. "So protective of him, are you? He protected the others, and you protect him. I sense a great deal of heart in both of you. Do either of you know why it is that your father would hide?"

Ichigo dislodged Shiro's hand and shook his head. "I think it has to do with him," he thumbed toward Shiro, and me." His hands moved to his stomach. "Pop realized something was wrong when I saw the doctor when I was about six. They felt something else in my stomach, something that shouldn't be there. They sent me for tests and found out I was different. He tried to hide it, him and my mom, but people found out anyway. I couldn't hide the physical features, the slight curves and the smell."

"Smell?" Starrk asked, frowning.

"Sweet, something sweet, the other two gave it off too, Kira and Rose. We don't know why. Some sort of pheromone. They couldn't explain it. When…when they picked us up, that day, the guy that got away, Jin, he said he'd been told to look for the ones like us," he said as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "Said that he had to put us on the same contraceptives he put the girls on. It worked, none of us ever got pregnant."

Shiro had sat down on the path and was plucking flowers from the bush dejectedly. "I couldn't help, they…"

Ichigo turned to him. "Of course not, you got your dumb ass locked in that box the first week!"

Shiro looked up at him. "What else was I supposed to do? I had to try and help get you out of there!"

"Well, you ended up only hurting yourself!" Ichigo snarled and stormed to the other side of the garden. Shiro didn't move, but Starrk went after him.

Grimmjow sat down beside Shiro then, surprising him. "Hey, you did what you had to do. You wanted to help him, so you did what you thought was best."

"All it did was make it so we couldn't even see each other," he said with a sigh. "I fought them every time they let me out. I killed a few of 'em. I know I did. That's why they kept me boxed up like that. I woulda killed more if they hadn't've. I could see, you know, that was the worst. They would make me watch what they did to him. I could hear him crying and when they beat him for not doing what they said. I didn't care about me, but it killed me to hear him."

With a deep sigh, Grimmjow put an arm around him. "Don't beat yerself up. Okay?" he said, and then, to his surprise, Shiro leaned against him. Grimmjow tightened his grip.

On the opposite side of the garden, Ichigo stood staring at a random bush when Starrk put a hand on his shoulder. He jumped a bit and looked at him with wide eyes.

"Apologies, I did not mean to startle you. He only wants to see you safe and happy," Starrk told him. "I believe that most would feel this way."

"You don't know what they did. What we did."

"It does not matter. Even should you have made the choice to act out sexual desires, it would not change who you are. I suppose the free way that Arrancar see sex may be to blame for many of my reactions. To be forced into any act without consent is deplorable, but otherwise, sexual acts are normal and commonplace here. We do not hold sex in the same sort of way that your Shinigami and other humans do. It is simply an act of pleasure or love. It is not something to hide or be judged on."

Ichigo nodded. "So, it isn't odd to have many lovers here?"

"Of course not. You may love someone or you may simply have a pleasurable encounter. Either is common," Starrk said with a smile at him. "We have no experience with those forced into sexual slavery like this. We have freed slaves before, but normally the pleasure slaves from Slavers' Moon do not come to the other moons, they go to Earth Prime."

"Why is that?" Ichigo asked, turning toward him again.

"Such slavery is allowed there, and I prohibit it here."

"So you, you're like really the leader of this place?" he asked, looking around at the blue blooms that surrounded them.

"I suppose. They gave me the title of Primera, the first. I suppose it is better than king or emperor. I rely on my council, my other Espada. I took the mantle after my father died, and the others elected me to fill his spot. My family descends from the first inhabitants that were marooned here hundreds of years ago by the scientists of Earth Prime," Starrk said. "My name, Cayote, is for the canine DNA that was combined with our family. My father's name was also Cayote. My family has led this world for many generations."

Ichigo felt strange around him, as though some primal instinct was pulling him toward him. It was somewhat disconcerting, but at the same time, this Starrk made him feel safe for the first time in a very long time. He glanced over where Shiro was leaning into the other Arrancar, the one with blue hair.

"I think Shiro likes him."

"Grimmjow?" Starrk said, looking at them and smiling. "He is of a panther's descent. With the ferocity of Shiro's heart, it is no wonder he is drawn toward him. Grimmjow is powerful and one of our best combatants. Like Shiro, no doubt."

Ichigo swallowed and turned a reddening face away from them. "That's good."

"You and Shiro have been lovers, have you not?" Starrk asked. Ichigo's head snapped toward him.

"Why would you say that? We…we're brothers…we're…"

"Not really brothers, now are you?" Starrk said with a gentle smile.

Ichigo's face had turned an even darker shade of red. "I've never told anyone what we…" he whispered.

"Love is love. You were reared in the same house, but I imagine it was obvious early on that he was not of your blood. The connection between you is not one of brotherhood. I am sorry for being blunt, but the reactions were far too obvious." Starrk rested his hand on Ichigo's shoulder again, but this time, Ichigo didn't flinch or push him away.

"I don't know what I feel right now," Ichigo said and relaxed as he felt Starrk place another hand on his shoulders.

"You are adjusting. I feel that there is much more going on than is immediately obvious, so I would ask if you would come and stay in my private rooms, with Shiro as well. I've spoken to Grimmjow, and he would come as well, so that there would be two of us to keep an eye on you. There is danger in your future, and I would try and protect you from it," Starrk spoke, pulling Ichigo against his body to offer a level of warmth and comfort. "Nothing is expected of you, not by me or Grimmjow. I simply wish to keep you beside me until we know what is happening."

Ichigo nodded. "Okay," he said, his mind already slipping into the docile mindset that had been forced onto him. In a way, he equated Starrk to being his master already. He'd been sold, and even if it hadn't been the way intended, he felt that he was transferred to the leader of the world's ownership, and he was comfortable with that. It was as it should be. As he had been forced to expect.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

"You promised that you would have them brought to me," the deep voice said over the speaker.

"Your buyer was outbid," Jin answered. The Arrancar didn't scare him. This person did. "I was ready to have him killed and the two of them handed over, but the stupid Starrk interrupted the auction and then took them all into custody. I lost three good men-"

"I don't wish to hear of your losses."

"I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean to sound like I was complaining." Jin was starting to worry now.

"Very well. I'll have to deal with this Starrk and his people. I will have the two of them. They are far too important for me to lose now. I should have taken them when you brought them from Karakura but you convinced me that breaking their spirit would be of benefit."

"Again, sir, it would have been ideal. I feared taking them to Prime would end up with someone we could not control gaining them in the bidding."

"It would have been unfortunate if my competitors got them. I will deal with it, Jin. Continue the operations on the Moon. I'll need another shipment for Earth Two soon."

The line cut out and Jin began to worry. The one person he didn't want to cross was the man who had just contacted him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Sex and Sweets

Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck stood outside the main castle and crossed her arms over her chest. She glanced behind her at Pesche and Dondochakka, her two steadfast companions and supporters. Some would call them her followers, but she called them her friends. Both of them had the misfortune of having been born with masks that completely obscured their faces, and even in their open society, they had a hard time fitting in. They technically were her "bodyguards", but neither one could fight their way out of a paper bag, and to be honest, the Headmistress of the Cortesanas de la Espada needed no bodyguards.

The Cortesanas de la Espada were group of regulated and organized courtesans that operated in Hueco Mundo. The "courtesans of the sword" were all capable women and men. They kept a strict code of conduct and protected each other. Nel was the Headmistress, and below her, there were three Mistresses and one Master. Each of the four groups were defined by their preferences. Submisos, led by Mistress Loly Aivirrne, were those that preferred to bottom in encounters, Dominante, led by their Mistress Menoly Mallia, preferred to top. Cambios, who were under Mistress Luppi Antenor, were those that chose to switch back and forth. The final group were the Damas, or the "lady pleasers" of the Courtesans, mostly male with a woman or two, these were specific for their over the top nature. Master Dordoni Alessandro directed this group. None had come with Nel for this visit. This purview was hers alone.

Nel also took in and helped those that were abused and hurt. Some of the Cortesanas were from other worlds, and they had come to them in escape of their abusers. She headed into to see what situation she was going to come across. It had been two days since the slaves had been freed, and thus far, none had left Starrk's castle. She left Dondochakka and Pesche in the receiving area and went up to the makeshift dorm that had been put together. As she walked in she could quickly identify the groups. She sighed, seeing that Nnoitra and Tesla were on guard, but neither was paying attention to the rescued slaves. She imagined Nnoitra had his hands already down the back of the younger Arrancar's pants where they sat behind the desk together.

She headed toward the girls that were gathered together with a couple of males. She knew the victims she was looking for.

About three hours later she emerged, already growing tired, but she found Starrk in the hallway.

"Nel, there is one other you should see to, I have to keep him under closer surveillance," Starrk said.

Nel groaned. "You know how tiresome this work is," she muttered, but followed him as they went up to Starrk's private rooms. Before he opened the door she grabbed him.

"Primera, it would be highly inappropriate for you to be bedding one of these people."

"I am not, however, once you come in, you'll see why they must be protected," Starrk said with a nod as he opened the large double doors into the opulent quarters.

While the room was dominated by a huge bed, it was obviously not the only reason for this room. It wasn't just a bedroom, but a full quarters. There was large ornate writing desk, a wall full of books, a door leading to a huge bath, and a wardrobe. Among the huge bed that was piled high with pillows she noticed that Grimmjow was lying on his belly. A pair of what could have been twins except for one being white in body and hair. Both looked up in unison as she came into the room.

"Nel, this is Ichigo," Starrk said as he pointed to the orange haired boy, and "Shiro," he said and pointed to the white copy. "We're keeping an eye on them because of their unique natures."

"I would say," Nel said with a glance between them. "Um, I'm Nel with the Cortesanas de la Espada."

"What's that?" Shiro asked with a frown.

"We're a group of Courtesans, paid escorts, if you will, who work here on Hueco Mundo."

"Prostitutes?" Shiro commented.

Nel smiled. "I wouldn't call any of our people that, but we offer paid companionship to those who wish it. Of course, we do so because we want to. Though there have been those that believe we are some sort of slavery ring, which we most definitely are not. We have rules and a hierarchy that protects our workers. A guild, I suppose, would be the best way of describing it," Nel explained. "I work with those that come here that have suffered abuse."

Ichigo nodded, squeezing Shiro's hand. "Yeah, did you talk to the others?" he asked.

"Yeah, we had a good long talk. Your friends Orihime and Rukia were especially worried about you," Nel said as she sat down on the floor in front of them. "So, I came up to talk to you."

"I'm fine," Ichigo said and turned and looked away. "Just fine. So you can leave."

Nel looked at him. He was…

"You're one of the child bearing males we've been seeing," she said finally.

Ichigo's eyes locked onto hers. "They told you."

"No, actually, I can tell by looking. The shape of the hip gives it away," she said, nodding toward his hips. "The two of you are identical in body, except there."

"What y'gonna do anyway?" Shiro growled.

"Well, I came to talk about what he's been through. You were a gladiator, and made to watch from what I understand," Nel said with a softening expression.

Ichigo stood up and snorted, wrapping the robe he wore around himself. "I'm dealing with things fine. Go on."

"Itsygo," Nel said with a sigh and covered her mouth. Ichigo turned back and stared for a second. "I'm sorry, I had a speech issue as a child, sometimes it slips."

"Say what you came to say," Ichigo said as he walked to the window and leaned against the sill.

Nel got up and walked over toward him, leaning against the frame beside him. "Alright, I'll give you the short version. I've been where you are." She waited but Ichigo didn't react. "There was a raid here when I was a child. I was stolen away as a laborer on one of these nameless orbs around here. I grew up and was pretty so I was sold into a brothel. There, I found women and men who were there by choice, and I learned that there were proper ways to do things like this and that's why I began the Cortesana. At first my life was not my choice, so I chose to make one." She smiled. "Starrk was visiting the brothel with his people, I thought as a visitor, but I found out that he was there to free everyone working there under coercion. A mistress was chosen, and those that wanted to remain stayed, and I came back to Hueco Mundo. Soon, I found others like me, and I helped them through their trauma."

Ichigo sighed. "It was worse knowing that Shiro could see me."

Nel nodded. "I know that it is hard right now, but there is an instinct to blame yourself, and that is one thing you cannot do. And you also feel that you are fine, when you aren't. So please…"

"I am fine," Ichigo said and glanced at her. "Look, I know what you try to do here, but please. I don't need it. See it Chizuru, Orihime, all those that are unable to handle it."

Nel nodded and excused herself. Starrk followed her. "What is your thinking?" he asked as he led her to the doors.

"He is hurt more than any of the rest. Be wary with him. He may have more problems than we realize. And the white copy of him? What is he?" Nel asked as they got to the doors. She saw the Pesche and Dondochakka were already playing outside with some of the children.

"We think he may be alien," Starrk said just above a whisper. "It is why we have to keep them close."

"You certainly got yourself a mess," she muttered as she looked across the empty land. "I'll go back to the House. Send for me if he struggles. And he will."

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Rukia sat with the others and glared at Renji now and then. She was frustrated, annoyed and done with the idiots. She looked up as the guard changed, this time a shorter man with pale skin and vivid green eyes. He sat down, and Rukia noted he was rather expressionless. She figured she go find out what this asshole's deal was. She walked over and slapped her hand onto the desk and he looked at her calmly.

"What's your name?" she demanded.

"Ulquiorra Cifer. You are Rukia Kuchiki. Your brother is one of the captains on the world you are from."

She blinked at him for a second. "How do you know all that?" she asked.

He tilted his head to the side. "I have read the reports about everyone who is here currently. I am supposed to keep an eye on all of you, therefore it is best if I know who you are."

Rukia narrowed her eyes at him, suspicious, just as she heard Orihime laughing with Chizuru. She turned and saw her trying to cheer up the other woman. He turned back to see that Ulquiorra was staring curiously at her.

"What are you looking at?" Rukia snarled.

Ulquiorra looked back to Rukia. "She is able to laugh, despite the ordeal that you have all been through. I find it interesting that she worries over others despite her own pain."

"That's a good thing, you know," Rukia said with her own look softening. Perhaps this guy wasn't a wierdo after all. "She's always like that. She cried a lot, but she always hated it when Ichigo would step between her and the slavers. She didn't want to be protected, she said, because it hurt him. She tried to comfort him, especially when he was so upset without his Shiro."

"They are an interesting pair, the twins that are not twins," Ulquiorra said with a sigh.

"What's that mean?" she asked.

"The white one is obviously not human, therefore their relationship cannot be one of brothers."

Rukia sighed and shook her head as the door opened and a tall woman with dark tanned skin came in. "Rukia Kuchiki, Renji Abarai, there is a communication for you."

Rukia glared at Renji as he came toward her sheepishly. They were led to what looked to be a communications room of some sort. They both sat down in front of a large display.

"Brother!" Rukia exclaimed, seeing her brother for the first time in over a year. Well, he was her sister's widower, not her brother specifically.

"Rukia, Renji," he said with a seemingly expressionless face. His black hair was held in place by the clips, as usual, and to her he looked exactly the same as he always had.

"I am pleased to see you again, Brother. Are you on your way to Hueco Mundo?" she asked.

"I am in the ship now. I had a spare moment and thought to communicate with you both directly. How have the Arrancar been treating you?" he asked.

"They're good," she said with a smile. "Him," she said and jabbed her thumb to Renji who was sitting with his head down. "On the other hand, he's being a complete ass."

Byakuya's face turned to a frown. "Renji, what is causing such behavior? I would think that being free of those horrific people would make you somewhat glad."

Renji shook his head. "I can't get out of my mind what we had to do."

"What does that mean?" Byakuya asked, looking back to Rukia.

Rolling her eyes, Rukia sighed. "He's embarrassed because they were used when the one's that were used as sex slaves were trained. He's all weird because he had to fuck me. It wasn't like it was his idea."

Byakuya blinked. "Your language has grown courser, little sister."

Rukia realized what she said. "Sorry, there isn't time for fine language when you're in that situation, Brother."

"It matters not, you are safe, both of you. Renji, I understand that you carry some embarrassment for having to engage in sexual relationship with someone you consider a sibling, but your attitude is quite backwards. What you were forced to do was done by that, force. Your guilt is misplaced, Renji. I expect you to sort these out with Rukia before I arrive. I will not have such a schism between my sister and my lover."

The screen went blank, leaving them in silence. After a few tense seconds Renji spoke. "I'm sorry. I…I felt like I was betraying him, and you. I know, I do, I know that it wasn't a choice that any of us had. But I still can't get it out of my head. You were always the stronger of us," he said and looked at her with a smile. "I'll try better."

"Alright, dumb ass," Rukia said and got up. The woman, Hallibel had been her name, led them back to the main room. Rukia noticed that Ulquiorra kept watching Orihime. Hmm, she thought as she went over to the other woman.

"I think that Arrancar might be smitten with you," she whispered in Orihime's ear.

Orihime glanced over and back to Rukia. "What?"

"Yeah, go talk to him."

Blushing, she shook her head, but Rukia had put the thought there. Who knew, maybe some of them could find happiness before they went home? She knew that Orihime's brother had died not long before they were abducted, so there was nothing on Karakura for her to back to.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

"Shiro, hey," Grimmjow said with a smirk. "C'mere. Let's go for a walk."

Lying across the bed as the afternoon light filtered in, Shiro looked almost luminescent. Shiro looked to see that Ichigo had fallen into a deep sleep snuggled into the pillows and against Starrk's chest. He worried at his quick attachment to the leader of the world. He nodded, though and climbed off the big bed and walked beside the tall, blue haired Arrancar.

"So, where we walkin' anyway?" he asked as he shoved his hands in the pockets of the loose pants he'd been given.

"Nowhere in particular," Grimmjow said with a shrug. "Just thought we'd leave for a little while. It's late afternoon, and I thought we could grab something from one of the food places. We have some interesting ones.

They had come to one of the main paths. "This place is a fuckin' maze," Shiro mused.

"Yeah, it is. The way it's built, up and back like this. That's why you got so lost when ya were runnin' round like crazy person."

"Well, it isn't like a crazy person, is it? I am one," Shiro looked down the path as he spoke, and he knew he was letting his heart leak into his words more than he intended.

"C'mon. I wanna show ya something," Grimmjow said as he turned to take them up a narrow set of stairs.

"Whoa, this is weird, what's this place?" Shiro asked as the path narrowed significantly and they had to squeeze under an overhang.

"Shush, just come with me. Promise, I won't do nothin' funny," Grimmjow said from in front of him.

"What's yer definition of funny, I wonder," Shiro said as they ducked under another overhang and passed through a house and up onto a ledge.

They took a few more turns and had to jump a small gap. Grimmjow pulled himself up on a ledge, then reached down for Shiro's hand. "Come, this is where I was taking ya."

Shiro frowned, taking the offered hand, and climbing up beside him to find himself high above a lot of the city and castle. The position was perfect to view the wide river that split the world of Hueco Mundo, with the city built into the cliff on one side, and the immense desert on the other. The strange sky met the horizon, neither light nor dark, and just in the distance, there was the strange glow from the sun, Dangai.

"Garganta is the river's name, you know. The throat. See all those green spaces around either side? The river protects them, and they only grow there. If you look out far enough, can you see the winds pushing the sand around? Everything dips down into the valley around the Garganta, and the green is protected, and we thrive. This cliff meets the water below. One day, erosion will destroy all of Las Noches," Grimmjow said, putting his hands in his own pants pockets.

"You know it will be destroyed? Everything you built here?" Shiro asked, turning back toward him.

Grimmjow nodded. "Of course. All that is created is destroyed, it is only a matter of time."

Shiro shook his head but focused on Dangai. "The sun is beautiful."

"Yeah, I guess, makes the sky look weird with the way our atmosphere is," Grimmjow commented, then turned to see Shiro seemed entranced.

He reached his hand out toward the orb in the sky. "You named it Dangai, and we became the Danae. Flowing, free, formless, foundless, there was nothing, yet we are everything until you kill us…" he muttered and Grimmjow wasn't sure he was even conscious of what he was saying. "I want to go home," he whispered and Grimmjow gasped as he tried to step off the ledge toward the sun.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, grabbing Shiro around the waist, and seeming to break him out of whatever trance he'd been in.

"What…huh?" he said, turning his odd eyes up to Grimmjow. "What happened?"

"You're going on about wanting to go home and nearly stepped of a damn cliff. No one would survive that fall, Shiro," Grimmjow said, still clutching his thin body against him.

"Ah, yeah, yeah, um, food?" Shiro said stepping to the side back the way they came.

"Are you okay?" Grimmjow asked, seeing an odd tone come over Shiro's skin. It was almost the same orangish yellow of the Dangai.

He nodded. "Um, yeah, food might help, just dizzy, that's all," he muttered as he slippd down off the ledge. Grimmjow followed him, a bit concerned. The words he said stuck to him. The way he spoke, it was like he wanted to go to Dangai… but that was impossible. It was a gas giant. Nothing could live there.

Grimmjow dropped down to find Shiro staring at a scene a little ways down the ledges. "Huh, they're at it again."

"What, they're just having sex in the open?" Shiro asked, looking at Grimmjow.

"Some like it. Nnoitra loves to show of how hard he can fuck Tesla. Damn, he's gonna bust that boy's head open one o'these days," he said with a shrug.

Shiro stared for a second because not twenty feet away, a blonde haired Arrancar was leaning against a horse sized cat and reading. "This is not weird to you, just to haul off and fuck anywhere?" l

"Nah, I mean, not everyone does, but it's just sex, what's the big deal? Some like to do it on the spur of the moment. You wanted food, so come on. You can try some local dishes."

Grimmjow led him down to an area with street food vendors and took him through several of them. Shiro found some things to his liking, and Grimmjow quickly noted that he loved sweets. He grinned and grabbed his hand, pulling him along to a building. Once inside he took him to the bar and ordered something, then sat him at a table.

"What's this place?" Shiro asked.

"Just wait."

Shiro was curious, but a few moments later, the guy behind the counter sat down a plate with a bread like pudding covered in something that looked very sticky and very sweet. Shiro already felt his mouth water as he grabbed fork and stabbed a piece. He gasped and began devouring it. Grimmjow rested his chin in his hands and watched him with a smile. Shiro was almost done with it when he looked up at Grimmjow suddenly.

"Oh, did you…"

"Nah, I'm not big on sweets. But you seem to like them. I got it for you, not me," Grimmjow said with a smirk.

Shiro nodded and finished it off. He felt his cheeks slightly warming at Grimmjow's words, and he was beginning to worry that he was growing attached to the brute. Brute, he thought. He was sweet and caring and not a brute at all, it seemed. As they left the sweet shop, Grimmjow took Shiro's hand with a smile. They walked back to the castle together, hands entwined with each other. By the time they got there, it was growing dark. Grimmjow, instead of going up the quarters, led Shiro into the garden.

"Why are coming in here?" Shiro said with a frown.

Before Shiro could speak again, though, Grimmjow had pulled him into a hug and his lips hovered just over Shiro's. Shiro's breath caught and he could feel the warmth of his breath on his dry lips.

"Was wonderin', can I kiss ya?" Grimmjow said with a slight smirk. "Been thinking on it all afternoon, and thought if ya really were sorry for eating all that sweet, then you'll gimme a taste like this."

Shiro nodded and felt Grimmjow's hand move up the back of his neck to push him forward. At first, their lips touched and Shiro thought his lips were smooth, before Grimmjow's tongue flicked out and pressed at the seam of his mouth. Shiro opened his mouth a bit, putting his own hands around Grimmjow's back. Gods, he thought, his back was so broad now that he had his arms around him. His tongue was hot as it slipped between his lips to press against his own and Shiro couldn't help the near whimper that escaped as Grimmjow's other hand slid down to rest on the swell of his ass.

The softness and slowness didn't last, because less than a minute later, Shiro was on his back next to one of the biggest Hyacinth's bushes, and Grimmjow's shirt was somewhere among the bushes on the other side of the path. Grimmjow's knee was grinding right into his aching need, and his own hands were trying to get the front of the blue haired Arrancar's pants open. Maybe it was seeing the other couple fucking in the open, but right now he didn't care that they were in the middle of the garden and someone could see them.

"You got horny fast," Grimmjow growled into his ear as he slid his hands down the back of Shiro's pants, slipping them easily off his hips.

"You…you did it…" Shiro gasped. "Hah, I'm not usually…uh…" he moaned louder than he thought he would when Grimmjow's hand slipped over his cock.

"Ya don't bottom to Ichigo?" Grimmjow asked, licking up the shell of his ear.

"Nuh, nah, ah, fuck," Shiro groaned as Grimmjow slid up between his legs and squeezed Shiro's cock against his own. Both of them were leaking enough that his hand was slipping easily over them both.

"Uh, I wanna fuck you, Shiro, can I?" Grimmjow asked, stroking them together several more times. "I won't if ya don't wanna, we can do this."

Shiro was debating what he wanted but when he glanced down at the sight of Grimmjow's thick cock against his own he nodded. "Ah, do it, fuck me," he whispered and arched his back a little.

"Hmm, okay," Grimmjow said, stroking them together a few more times before he rubbed more pre-cum off with his fingers. He pushed the Shiro's white thighs apart to see. He smirked, finding the twitching bud with his eye before he slipped his finger inside. With as much wetness as he had on his hand, it slid in easily. A few seconds, and he'd worked in three easily. He was at his limit though.

"Ready?" he asked as he looked to Shiro had thrown both arms over his face and was panting. Grimmjow could see his legs were quivering and he was holding himself back desperately.

"Yah, ha…ha…please… I'm going crazy, feels good…" Shiro panted.

"Yes, my love," Grimmjow said as he moved, lining himself up and easing himself in. "Oh fuck, that's tight," he mutered, looking up to see Shiro still had his arms over his face. "Tell me if it hurts too much, but relax, you know how this goes," he said.

"Hmm, just go, hurry and get it in," Shiro gasped out. "I'll be fine, I won't fucking break."

Grimmjow smirked and slid forward steadily, feeling the pressure against him as Shiro's body twitched around him. "Oh, gods, it's in, all the way, tell me…when you're okay…for me to move…" he gasped, holding both of Shiro's legs and trying to keep from bucking his hips. It was harder than he expected.

"Go," Shiro finally said. "Move you blue bastard," he gasped.

Grimmjow smirked. "Not 'til you put your arms down. I ain't fucking you if I can't see yer face," he said. As much as his cock was throbbing, he needed to see his face to know if he was feeling good or not.

Slowly, Shiro pulled down his arms and locked his eyes on Grimmjow. Grimmjow swallowed because that broke his resolve. He leaned over, slamming forward and locking his lips on Shiro's.

After several rounds, Shiro was lying on his back in one of the grassy areas staring at the lights on the ceiling and Grimmjow was stroking his hair lazily.

"My back hurts, bed next time, the ground is too hard," Shiro muttered.

"Whatever you want, Shiro," Grimmjow said and leaned over to kiss him again. "Whatever you want, I'll do."


	4. Chapter 4

Ichigo knew he had to get the girls to safety. He opened the door to the basement and ushered them both down the stairs.

"But Ichigo…" Karin started.

"You need to hide too!" Yuzu pleaded with him.

"I'll be fine, I have to find Shiro," he told them, shutting the door. "Lock it from the inside and don't let anyone in," he called and took off at a run.

He had to find Shiro. He'd never been through a slaver raid before, but he knew that Shiro would be a target just on his looks alone. He had no idea where his father was, but he assumed he was helping with any injuries from the attack. It was very coordinated and strategic, taking out the defensive capabilities of the Karakura Town area before they came in on foot. They tagged people with long range transporter tags that then transported the person onto their ship, presumedly into a cell.

He hid in the alleyway beside the house until he didn't see anyone around. He knew that Shiro was nearby, but he didn't know how to get him to come out. He knew he would probably have found someplace to hide. He honestly should have just hidden himself, but he couldn't let Shiro be in danger alone.

"Gotcha," came a voice behind him. He turned and saw a guy with hair nearly the color of his own pointing a weapon of some sort at him.

Looking around, he had nowhere to go. He could run, but this guy would have him. Then he heard a voice that was all too welcome.

"Get away from him!"

Ichigo turned and saw Shiro running directly for him. The guy holding the weapon just smiled and said, "Two for one," and shot Ichigo with the tagging gun he was holding.

Shiro skidded to a stop just as Ichigo's body evaporated when the transporter kicked in. Ichigo couldn't see what happened after that, he just knew that Shiro ended up appearing in the same cell moments later. He ran and wrapped arms around him, looking around at the others that had been captured in the cell.

"What do we do?" he asked Shiro as he gripped the other's hand tightly in his.

"We wait until we get a chance to get out of here," Shiro responded. He looked out of the cell with his strange colored eyes and saw someone walking around outside it. It was a man with white hair that was looking into the cells.

"Welcome, my new acquisitions," he said as he smiled at them. "We're leaving the atmosphere of your pathetic excuse for a moon and heading for Slavers' Moon. You have all been captured by me, Jin Kariya, and the Bount organization. You will be split up into groups and trained for about a year on our moon in your specialty. Do get some rest tonight, because tomorrow we will be beginning your initiation into the life you will lead from now on," Jin turned on his heel and walked back out the way he had come.

Ichigo looked around to see who was there and recognized everyone that was there. All of them had been in Karakura for most of their lives except for the visiting Shinigami that got captured with them. But they were still well known. Shiro held to him and no one tried to separate them. Everyone knew not to get between the Kurosaki boys, and more than a few of those present knew there was more than a brotherly relationship between the two of them. Of course, everyone was well aware that Shiro wasn't quite normal, as well.

He managed to dislodge Shiro from him and walked around checking on everyone. So far, it looked like no one was harmed, and everyone appeared to be okay other than being a little scared. He sat down on the floor with Shiro and waited with him, knee to knee. No one bothered them, and a few of the others talked quietly to each other, but on the whole, everyone was pretty quiet. There were a few cots, and everyone traded off sleeping in shifts since there were not enough for each of them to have one. In fact, the cell they were in looked to be made to hold eight people. There was more than that situated in it now.

The next morning, Jin returned. He had the one with the orange hair with him and a woman with greenish hair. He addressed them all once everyone seemed to be paying attention to him.

"We'll separate you into groups and take you to where you will begin your training. If you resist, you will be beaten. If you try to run, you will be beaten. If you do anything that we deem wrong, you will be beaten. You are our property now, and we'll treat you however we like from now on. This is Mabashi and Yoshi," he said and indicated the man and then the woman. "They're going to help decide which groups each of you go into."

He opened the door to the cell and the one named Mabashi began grabbing most the males and pulling them to the side, saying they were to be laborers. When he got to one of the Shinigami named Kira, though, he pulled out a scanner and grinned.

"You go with Yoshi," he told him, pushing him toward the other group that was mostly comprised of the females.

Mabashi did the same when he came to a Shinigami named Rose as well. Finally, he came to Ichigo and Shiro. He pulled Shiro over toward his group but again scanned Ichigo, finding the answer he was looking for. "You too, with Yoshi."

Shiro lost it then. He went for Mabashi immediately. Ichigo gasped and told him to calm down, to stop, but he had Mabashi on the ground. It didn't take long before he was shot with something from outside the cell. Ichigo looked over to see a guy with round glasses holding a gun of some sort. He dropped to his knees where Shiro had fallen unconscious.

Mabashi kicked him soundly in the side after he stood up. "Put him in the gladiatorial bunch. See how long the fight stays in him."

Ichigo watched as he was dragged out of the cell and wondered if he was going to see Shiro again. The woman grabbed him by the arm and pulled him over toward the group of mostly girls.

"I didn't think I'd get to have some boys in this group," she said and smiled at the three of them.

"What are you going to do with us?" a Shinigami named Rukia asked, standing up as tall as she could.

"You lot? You're the whores." Yoshi gave them a grin. "You're going to be trained to be the finest pleasure slaves that the Bounts have to offer."

Ichigo sat up on the fluffy bed he had fallen asleep in, heart hammering in his chest. He felt someone touch him gently and mumble, "Lay down."

He panted for a minute, getting his bearings again. He glanced over to see the leader of this place piled into the bunch of pillows on the bed. He shivered and felt like he was never going to be warm, not with these memories flooding his mind every time he slept.

"You dreamed, yes?" Starrk asked as he looked at him.

Ichigo turned toward him, nodding. "The first days. When they captured us."

Ichigo felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He resisted the urge to push him off. He was only trying to sooth him, he knew. He sat up in the bed, using his hand to urge Ichigo to come closer to him. Ichigo went with him, leaning into his chest. His heart was still beating too fast, and the blood was rushing in his ears still.

"Tell me about it," Starrk said softly, wrapping his arms around him. It was a soft touch, and one that wasn't filled with expectation.

"Just, after that first day, they separated us. And I couldn't see him except when they put him in that box, and then only just barely." He swallowed and tried to control his heart rate. "But they made him watch."

"What did they make him watch?"

Ichigo chewed on his bottom lip for a second before he spoke again. "When they were 'training' us."

"What did they do?" Starrk asked, pulling Ichigo tighter into his grip.

"W-we had to learn things. Like what sort of things our buyers would like. It was humiliating, to be degraded in such a way, especially when the others could see what happened. Th-they used us in so many ways, it was horrible. And I can't get it out of my head," Ichigo put a hand to his head and sighed.

"It is alright to still feel these things. You are not that far removed from what has happened," Starrk said with a sigh, reaching up to brush a hand over Ichigo's head.

Ichigo leaned into the touch. "Why are you being like this? Do you expect something of me?"

"No, of course not. I merely wish to help you. You are not required to do anything for me," Starrk answered. "You seem to not be opposed to the attention."

Ichigo wasn't sure how to respond to that statement. He knew what the training he had endured told him he should do. To be a good slave to his master. He didn't know how to do anything else any longer. He had to admit, Starrk's touches were nice and made him feel warm all over. The man exuded a powerful presence that not many people could. He felt safe.

"How do I return to a normal life after this?" he asked, serious about not knowing. He had no idea what he was supposed to do.

"You go slow and take your time," Starrk answered, yawning and stretching his arms over his head.

"But what if it takes more time than I think it should?" he asked, looking up into his face.

Starrk smiled softly at him. "It will take as much time as it needs to take," he said and stroked Ichigo's cheek with a gentle hand.

The door opened then and Ichigo looked up to see Shiro come in with Grimmjow behind him. Shiro looked like he'd been rolling in the grass or something because there was bits of leaves and green bits in his hair. If it hadn't been white, Ichigo might not have noticed it. As it was, the green stood out boldly against him.

"Well, it seems you two entertained each other," Starrk said with a grin.

"What makes you say something like that?" Shiro asked as Ichigo sat down on the side of the bed.

Ichigo crawled over to him and pulled a leaf out of his hair with a sideways grin. "Um…" he said.

Shiro reached up and ran his hands through his hair, coming back with a few more bits of greenery. He glanced over at Grimmjow.

"Ya coulda told me," he muttered, brushing out his hair with both hands now.

"Was kinda cute," Grimmjow said with a smirk.

Shiro snorted and crossed his arms in a grump. Ichigo put both arms around his neck and hugged him from behind. "Don't be grouchy," he said and Shiro moved quickly, grabbing Ichigo by the arm and dragging him up into his lap.

"I'm not grouchy," Shiro muttered and leaned in to bite at Ichigo's throat.

"Aha," he exhaled, feeling Shiro's tongue on his Adam's apple.

Grimmjow arched a brow and watched. Ichigo obviously had been in such a position before, but it seemed like Shiro had finally had enough of not touching him. Behind them, Starrk chuckled a little and rolled out of bed with a groan.

"I must check on some things for today. Grimmjow, if you don't mind, stay with them," Starrk said lazily as he headed toward the door, not bothering to change his clothes.

Grimmjow didn't think they'd even noticed that Starrk had gone. It certainly didn't look like Shiro cared who could see him as he laid kisses and sucking bites on Ichigo's neck. He shook his head, knowing that it hadn't been that long since he and Shiro had their fun. Still, Shiro seemed to be overly interested in Ichigo at the moment.

"Shiro!" Ichigo finally gasped, eyes locking onto Grimmjow. "Please! We're not alone!"

Shiro glanced over to Grimmjow and resumed sucking a dark mark on Ichigo's neck. "He can join us," he finally mumbled. He then moved to flip Ichigo to lay on his back, moving the loose shirt open in the front. Grimmjow leaned against the pole on the bed and watched with interest. Shiro didn't seem to be slowing down at all.

"Hah, hah," Ichigo panted as Shiro ran his pale hands over Ichigo's chest and paused to play with his nipples for a second.

"How old were you two when you started fucking anyway?" Grimmjow asked as he sat down beside the two of them.

Shiro glanced over at him and winked. "About fifteen I think," he said and slid a hand down to tug Ichigo's pants down off his hips.

"Did ya know then that ya weren't really related or did ya not care?" Grimmjow asked, curious how long they carried on thinking they were twins.

Shiro had by now gotten Ichigo out of his pants and was stroking him with one hand while he shoved his fingers into his mouth with the other. He hummed. "Didn't really care. I think I've always known I wasn't human, but to be honest, I didn't care that much either."

"How'd ya get away with it? Didn't your parents notice?" Grimmjow wondered as Shiro proceeded to slide a couple of fingers into Ichigo, causing him to moan out loud and gasp.

"Hmm, father was busy most the time being a doctor and mother died when we were nine. No one really paid it any attention. They just guessed we were close because we were twins. They had no idea." Shiro pushed Ichigo's legs apart, lining himself up and sliding forward into him.

Grimmjow was growing painfully hard watching Shiro as he totally dominated Ichigo in every way he could. This was the same creature that had just submitted to him multiple times, taking control of someone else, and it was surprisingly hot. He growled under his breath, getting Shiro to stop and look at him.

"Oh, are you all worked up too?" Shiro asked, panting as he held himself still with some effort. "Fuck his mouth. He'll do a good job at it, he always does."

"Are ya sure?" Grimmjow asked with a glance up at Ichigo's face, twisted in pleasure.

"Whatever you put near his mouth, he'll suck," Shiro commented as he began to pull back and press forward with a little more speed.

"Yeah, but what if he don't want to?" Grimmjow asked, frowning and not liking the idea of doing something without literal consent.

"He does, but ask him, if he can get the words out, he can tell you," Shiro stated, leaning down over him and kissing him soundly for a moment. "Hey, Ichi, wanna suck on Grimmjow's cock?"

Ichigo's eyes rolled up and met with Grimmjow's blue ones. He was panting, and his eyes were blown wide. He nodded, reaching his hands toward Grimmjow's face. Grimmjow leaned in and locked lips on him, engaging him in a kiss that quickly descended into Ichigo sucking on Grimmjow's tongue more than anything. He huffed a breath as he crawled up on the bed, pulling himself free of his pants and pressing against Ichigo's lips. Immediately he opened his mouth and let Grimmjow slide into it.

"Ah isn't that pretty, Ichi. You're all full up from both ends, now," Shiro said, pulling back and slamming into him harder. "Be a good boy and suck Grimmjow off nice, okay? He's got a nice cock there, so take care."

Ichigo's throat constricted around Grimmjow as he slammed forward and down into him. It felt nice and wet, and he could gauge easily how much he needed to breathe as he worked in an out of his mouth. He looked over at Shiro, who had pushed Ichigo's knees up and back as far as they would go, and was thrusting hard into him now.

"Gods and devils, Ichi…" Shiro hissed. "Fucking you again after so long feels so good…"

Grimmjow noticed that Shiro had been right because Ichigo knew how to take a throat fucking easy. He bucked his hips a little and grabbed his obnoxiously bright hair and held his head down until he gasped, suddenly tipping over the edge and coming down Ichigo's throat. He was panting when he pulled out of his open, wet mouth, but he was otherwise into Shiro's motions. Grimmjow reached over and began to stroke him as Shiro began to get more frantic. Ichigo whined out loud and came in Grimmjow's hand. It didn't take long, a few more thrusts as Ichigo's body constricted on him, bringing Shiro over the edge finally.

"Ahh, fuck!" he exclaimed as Ichigo lay there staring at the ceiling, still panting from the exertion.

Grimmjow wiped his hand off on the covers, knowing that Starrk would probably change them after this much activity in sheets. Shiro fell to the side of Ichigo, reaching out and brushing a hand through his hair gently.

"Ah, Ichi, I missed you…" he said and leaned down to lock him into another deep kiss.

"I missed you too," Ichigo finally managed, reaching up and cupping Shiro's face.

"Not being able to touch you was the worst part and watching what those other fuckers did to you…" Shiro said sadly, threading his fingers through Ichigo's hair and sighing.

"Well, I certainly shouldn't leave you lot on your own that often in my bed," Starrk said from the doorway as he came back in.

"Next time, you can join in the fun," Shiro said as he did his pants back up and looked for Ichigo's.

Finding them tossed on the bed, Shiro slowly got Ichigo back into them. His shirt was still hanging on him, open in the front, though. Shiro pulled it closed and then leaned over and kissed him again, languidly exploring his mouth with his tongue.

Starrk shook his head and picked up a drink from the rolling cart that sat just inside the doorway. He poured water in the glass and walked over to the bed with it, offering it to Shiro. Shiro took it and pulled Ichigo to sit up.

"Here," he said as he handed him the glass.

Ichigo took it, drinking the water quickly, obviously thirsty. When he was done, Shiro handed the glass back to Starrk with a nod. Starrk took the glass back and set it on the cart once more. He returned and sat down on the bed, reaching out and caressing Ichigo's head gently. He leaned into the touch again, looking up at him with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry," Ichigo finally whispered to him. "I should have asked if it was okay…"

Starrk smiled at him. "There is no need to ask such a thing of me. You have the freedom to do as you like," he reminded him. "I do not own you, nor would I ever try."

Ichigo still had trouble accepting this idea, but he nodded, not wanting to cause any upset with his strange thoughts on the issue. He sighed and fell back into the bed, feeling exhaustion clawing at the edges of his consciousness. That dream hadn't let him sleep well at all, and now he was relaxed enough that he wanted to rest.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

The small ship only had one communications channel that worked. Of course that was all that was needed for this ship. When the communication channel beeped, it surprised Isshin Kurosaki. He nearly fell out of his chair in shock.

"Kurosaki," he answered, knowing there was only a couple reasons for him to be contacted.

"Isshin," came Urahara's voice on the other end. There was no video capability on this side, though so it was all audio only.

"Kisuke, you have news?" he asked, hoping that the reason he contacted him wasn't to give him bad news.

"I do. They've been found and are safe," Urahara said with a deep sigh, not taking any amount of time to tell him what was going on.

"Where are they?" he asked, already setting the destination coordinates.

"Hueco Mundo," Urahara said. "But they've been on Slavers' Moon as we feared for all this time."

Isshin was quiet for a minute as he put in the navigation to Hueco Mundo. "You said they're safe, but not how they are."

"Well, they've been through a lot. Shiro was placed with the gladiator bunch. They told me he got put into a box by himself because he was too volatile to let out," Urahara said with a sigh.

"And Ichigo?" he asked.

"He was put through a little more…" Urahara said slowly, not wanting to talk about this part.

"What do you mean, a little more?" Isshin asked, worried now about what exactly that meant.

"Well, it seems they found out about his unique physiology along with a couple of the others, and he got put with the girls' group of slaves to be trained." Urahara stopped and didn't want to continue.

"The girls' group." Isshin's voice was flat and Urahara knew he didn't have to say anything else. "The whole time?"

"Yeah, unfortunately. But the leader of Hueco Mundo, a Coyote Starrk, has separated him and Shiro out from the others because a ship from Seireitei is going there to pick up those that disappeared from there." Urahara sighed. "They know about both Shiro being non-human and Ichigo's condition."

"Have they said anything about them?" Isshin wondered.

"Just was mentioned that they know about it. They seem to be trying to keep them safe," Urahara said.

"Alright, I'll head that direction. All I can hope is they won't decide that they need to keep them because of who they are," Isshin said as he headed toward the large Dangai moon.

Karin came to the door of the cockpit as soon as they were moving. "Are we going somewhere?" she asked.

"Your brothers have been rescued. They're on Hueco Mundo," he told her as he turned to her, smiling.

She smiled. "That's wonderful! Did you find out where they'd been for sure?" she asked.

"Slavers' Moon as we feared," Isshin said with a deep sigh. "They've been through a lot since they've been gone, so they might act a little different."

Karin nodded and was silent for a minute. "They got taken because of Shiro, didn't they?"

Isshin looked at her curiously. "Why do you say that?"

"Don't treat me like I don't know. I can see as well as anyone that he's not human." She brushed her dark hair behind her ears and sighed. "What is he?"

Sighing, Isshin shook his head. "We don't know, no one has been able to figure out what he is. We just know that his body is a copy of Ichigo's. Whatever he is, he didn't have a body and needed to use your mother to make one. She was a strong woman; I think that's why it worked for him."

Karin chewed her lip for a second. "But is that why they were taken?"

"Either that or Ichigo's physiology being evolved. Or perhaps both. Whoever wanted them didn't get them, though. He's with the leader of Hueco Mundo right now," Isshin explained.

"What if hey come back for them again?" Yuzu said from behind Karin. Isshin hadn't even noticed her coming into the cockpit.

"I don't know. I don't know why they were sent to Slavers' Moon. I don't know why they were included in the raid, and we may never know for sure unless someone talks and explains themselves about the whole thing. For now, we just go see them," Isshin smiled at both girls.

"I still don't understand why we couldn't stay on Karakura," Karin said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Kisuke and I had no idea if the people were after your brothers specifically. He thought, and I agreed, that going into hiding with you two would be the safest bet. That way they wouldn't try and use you against them for whatever reason they had." Isshin looked at the readings on the console. "Look, we'll be to Hueco Mundo within the week. Get some rest and try not to worry too much on it before we even get there."

The girls nodded, heading to the living area of the small ship they had borrowed from the Shinigami that lived in Karakura. It had been a good thing he still had his ship from when he had come to the other moon. It had been useful for them to get away and spend their time moving from moon orbit to moon orbit around Dangai.

Isshin sighed again, looking out at the stars. It wouldn't be long now until he got to see his son, sons he supposed, again.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Yhwach sat behind the desk and looked over he reports that had been coming in. The Bounts had failed him completely and now the Kurosaki boys were in the hands of Coyote Starrk and the damned Arrancar. He didn't want to waste such a wonderful opportunity to be the first person to confirm alien life, as well as having a living specimen of the evolutionary changes taking place on the moons around the gas giant, Dangai.

"Sir," came a voice from the door. He looked up to see Jugram Haschwalth standing at the door.

"Do you have news on the acquisitions?" he asked, looking over the man who was his second in command right now.

"Nothing new, sir. It seems that they are being personally looked after by Starrk himself. Even if we were able to get to them, we would not be able to get them out without notice," Jugram informed him.

Yhwach sighed. "We should have simply had them brought to us immediately."

"But sir, it would have aroused suspicion if we had. The plan to break their spirits was a good one, sir. Some time on Slavers' Moon would have taken a toll on their mental states. The results would only be beneficial to us," Jugram stated.

Yhwach was silent for a moment. "That is true. But now we have a problem in getting them out of Hueco Mundo. After the Bounts made a scene on that moon, they will have tightened security."

"We could send in a group under the guise of being traders. If you sent in Quilge and Bambietta, it would certainly be one way to deal with the problem." Jugram watched as he went over files.

"The problem is successfully getting them off that moon and back into our hands," he mused.

"Do you wish to convene a meeting to further discuss this as a group?" Jugram asked.

Yhwach frowned, brushing dark hair out of his face before looking at the blond second. "No, I believe that we should try to get someone on that moon under another guise. Put together a team, with instructions for them to be recon only. No one is to take any action without direct authorization from me and me alone," he said and nodded. "First, we need to know how protected they are, then we can decide how to proceed."

Jugram bowed deeply and turned and left the room. Yhwach stilled his hands as he thought about possibly losing those boys. He didn't really need the normal one. Well, normal was relative, as he was evolved, and those evolutions had not occurred on Earth Prime, 2, or 3. He was willing to bet it had something to do with exposure to either the gas giant Dangai or Sol 2. He needed to get his hands on the other one before someone else decided to take him and dissect him. The opportunity to examine and experiment on the first possible alien life was too much to pass up.

It had been an accident that he found out about the strange twins that were not twins. Meninas McAllon had been visiting the Karakura moon when she ran across the strange white copy of the other boy. She had taken video and sent it back to Earth Prime immediately.

She had managed to get more information out of some of the locals. No one thought the one named Shiro was human. They called them the "Kurosaki boys", but it was said that way as a want for a better term. They all knew the one boy was "normal" but the other one wasn't quite right from the day of their mutual birth. From the first day, it was quite obvious. Their mother and father treated them both as their own children, and their family accepted them as though they were both normal.

Meninas ended up gaining access to the medical records, covertly, of course. She found that there had been tests done on both the boys. She copied the files and forwarded them all to Yhwach. It had included DNA scans and genetic investigations into both of them.

Yhwach had immediately wanted to know more about the pale boy. He wanted to have access to the other one, too, but the pale one. So far, no one from Earth Prime except for him had taken notice of this strange happening on one of the backward moons around Dangai. He would have those two before anyone else managed to snatch them out from under his nose.


End file.
